Archive for September 5th, 2017

In light of the recent decision from the Trump administration to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy, also known as DACA, CLLAS joins the multiple voices across the University of Oregon, our state, and the nation rejecting this decision. CLLAS urges the Trump administration and Congress to continue this important program. DACA has brought hundreds of thousands of people out of the shadows, giving them the opportunity to openly be productive members of our society.

CLLAS remains firmly committed to all students at the University of Oregon, including those protected under DACA. CLLAS also expresses its solidarity to the families of all DACA students.

As we urge the Trump administration and Congress to continue the DACA program, we also invite all faculty, staff, students, and community members to familiarize themselves with the various available resources concerning DACA and related issues (please visit our Resources tab).

UO President Michael H. Schill sent the following message to the campus community Sept. 4 in anticipation of changes to federal immigration policy:

Members of the University of Oregon community,

President Trump this week is expected to make changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy, also known as DACA. I join hundreds of university leaders as well as local, state, federal, and business leaders in strongly urging President Trump to continue this program. I also write to let our students know that we support them, and to provide information about where our students and their families can go for assistance, should the need arise.

In a world full of ambiguities, there is no ambiguity for me about the importance of continuing DACA. My view of morality dictates that young people, many of whom were brought here as infants or toddlers, must be allowed to remain in the United States to learn, work, and make a life for themselves. The United States is their home. To uproot them would be wrong. Period.› Continue reading

Jose Antonio Vargas will discuss how American identity and citizenship are construed in culture and policy, through the telling of his own story. Vargas, the 2017-18 Wayne Morse Chair, is a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and filmmaker. He is the founder of Define American, a nonprofit organization that uses storytelling to shift the conversation about immigration, and #EmergingUS, a multimedia startup for a new multi-ethnic, multiracial America.

In 2011, Vargas wrote an essay for the New York Times Magazine in which he revealed and chronicled his life in America as an undocumented immigrant. A year later, he appeared on the cover of TIME with fellow undocumented immigrants as part of a follow-up story he wrote. He also wrote, produced, and directed Documented, an award-winning documentary on his experience. Vargas will be in residence at the Wayne Morse Center mid-October to mid-November 2017. His visit is in conjunction with the Wayne Morse Center’s 2017-19 theme of inquiry, Borders, Migration, and Belonging.

2017 Latino Roots Celebration

Access the above link for giving to the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies Gift Fund. Online gifts may be made using the form available at this link; all gifts are processed by the University of Oregon Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization responsible for receiving and administering private donations to the University of Oregon.